[1]Police apprehend a man who ran off from them at the AM/PM gas station on 13th Street in Chehalis. / Courtesy photo by Angie Denney
Updated
MAN FLEES POLICE, ONTO FREEWAY
• Traffic came to a halt as police chased a detainee who slipped away from them at a gas station on 13th Street in Chehalis and ran onto Interstate 5 crossing nearly to the opposite shoulder before he was taken into custody yesterday. It began about 10:20 a.m. when Chehalis police got a call from Green Hill School giving them a heads up about an employee acting strangely and being made to leave the juvenile detention facility, according to police. Less than an hour later, a 911 caller said the man was behind the counter at the AM/PM across the street and wouldn’t leave, according to Sgt. Rick McNamara. The approximately 6-foot 7-inch tall individual was acting as though he worked there and was scaring people, Sgt. Gary Wilson said. Arriving officers attempted to Tase him, but he jumped over the counter and ran off, police said. He headed northbound on foot, crossed the center barrier and was trying to stop cars. “He was non-compliant and not completely with it,” Wilson said. Finally, as an officer pointed a bean bag shotgun at him in the center of the freeway, he did what he was told, according to Wilson. Wellington M. Waggener, 24, of Centralia, was taken to the hospital to be cleared and then was booked into the Lewis County Jail for obstructing and resisting arrest, according to police.
TRUCK SWITCH INVESTIGATED
• Centralia police took a report yesterday afternoon of a blue 2003 Ford F-350 pickup stolen from where it was parked on Caveness near the 1200 block of Harrison Avenue. Nearby, they found an abandoned white Ford pickup which turned out to be stolen from Portland, Ore., leading them to suspect a connection, according to the Centralia Police Department.
AND MORE
• And as usual, other incidents such as arrests for driving under the influence, driving with suspended license, misdemeanor assault; responses for collision, protection order violation, possible burglary and misdemeanor theft including a three-wheeled, pedal-powered Green Machine from a yard on the 300 block of Wilding Street in Centralia … and more.
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CORRECTION: The item about the 24-year-old man chased onto the freeway has been updated to reflect the correct timing of events.